Highest quality enlarger

[ic-racer]

It seems the question of which enlarger to get comes up very frequently on these forums and it would probably be easier to just make up a list of BAD enlargers for 4x5 and up.

Ok I'll start....



Hmm... still thinking,...

Anyone know any?

[paulr]

I worked at a lab that had an HK horizontal enlarger. it was a thing of beauty. The neg carriers worked like the beseler holder that grabs the corners and stretches the neg flat (the infamous Neg-a-scratch) but this thing was perfectly designed and never harmed the neg. The carrier itself cost more than any other enlarger I've used.

The enlarger rolled back and forth on little railroad tracks, was controlled by a remote, and autofocussed!

[Chris623]

I used to use the Omega D2XL. I can't say I ever had a complaint with it. If I had one today, I might just start shooting LF again. Great piece of equipment and served my purposes well. I used it for 35mm, 2 1/4 square and 4x5.

[Bazz8]

Well the obvious answer is mine as is most of the posts that i have read.
I have a Durst 138s 5x7 mine is mint and I mean mint you could eat your dinner of it a local uni used it for of all things 8x10s ,when you can print 20x24 prints of the baseboard with no problems the build quality speaks for itself I was informed by the original saleman that the enlarger in 1973 was sold for $90,000 or so so comparing it with some units it not apples with apples,the sad part is how many of these machines have been cut up for scrap which was the fate of this one if not for a chance meeting with a scientest who put me on to the enlarger.
positive points ultimately stable
good light diffusion
does not give a hint of movement.
can be used horizontely
adjustable baseboard.

other enlargers used in order: omega:beseler:LPL:smaller durst 509 or somthing like that
Durst D659 (a mini laboritar autofocus up to 6x6)
as a builder just my observation any thing which requires bracing inducates poor
build tecknique in the first place eg: the omega came with a wall mount and a bracket system to brace the enlarger steady with all its flappy metel guides was never my favourite enlarger.

My favourite Durst I was lucky.

[e]

I have a Durst S-45 EM that I converted to 5x7. Works great. But I dont use it too much since contact printing these days. I always wanted a LF Focomat enlarger though...if they only made them...

[Toyon]

About fine focus on Saunders: don´t be worried about it. After years of use (not so much years!) the fine focus wheel of my enlarger have lost its tightness, although it works with an unpleasant play. I have also a Beseler enlarger with a rude but tight friction knob. My vintage 5x7" have the best focusing knob I have ever seen, works like it was absolutely new, way more precise and easier to focus than Saunders and Beseler.

No need to suffer Jose you can buy a new fine focus gear for the LPL 7600 and use in on the 4500 cost is about $99 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ttachment.html. The trick is not to overtighten the fine screws. Theyll loosen over time, but are a cinch to retighten. I've been doing this on the last set of gears i bought for years.

[artflic]

I am going to sound very old here, but I guess I am. I used many different Omega models over the years and had no problems with them. They do tend to be shaky, but I simply attached them to the wall behind the enlarger with two pieces of threaded rod and angle irons. I do that with all of my enlargers having swiped the idea from Zone VI. I taught darkroom photography at a local college for 8 years and we had all Omega D5 enlargers. They were were all beat, not because they were bad, but because they were not maintained properly. At one point I decided to start shooting 8 x 10 and so an 8 x 10 enlarger was next on my shopping list. I bought the Zone VI since you can get both 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 heads. The VC black and white cold light head was quite nice. Their neg carriers only are landscape, so if you are doing a vertical print you have to look at the image sideways. I bought extra carriers and cut my own vertical openings, thus solving the problem. However, that is an added expense. I would not hesitate to recommend the enlarger, however, they are probably hard to find and parts not as easy to obtain as Omegas, etc. If you do select a Zone VI,make sure you get the Type 2, which has two columns in the head, it is more stable. For the past several years I have been using a Beseler 45V XL. It cost me $5 as a local vocational school closed out their program. I mounted it next to my Omega D5 and my Zone VI. When the time came to move to a new house I had to downsize and so I sold the Omegas and the Zone VI and kept the Besseler. It seems a bit more convenient to align .I generally use the color head as you can dial in contrast for B & W VC paper using the filters. I also have a condenser head which I use on occasion. Coupled with Nikkor lenses the results can be quite contrasty. I also have a complete set of Componon S lenses, so I can pick and choose appropriately for the project. It has been mentioned in other posts above, but I will second the assertion that the lens is the whole thing, everything else is just a convenience. The Bessler replaced my Zone VI and Omegas since it seemed more convenient in a number of ways. That having been said, I am confident that I could align almost any old enlarger and, with a good lens, make superior prints. It's all in the lens. Keep in mind that cold light heads are just diffuser heads of a newer variety. Some like condensers, some diffusers. I like both, depending on whatever I am trying to achieve. Sorry to ramble and I hope this helps. Rob Rielly

[tom north]

Ron,

Every good enlarger will require some set up involving leveling and plumbing. How difficult or how easy this is will vary on the design and are issues you should consider. To maximize your enlargers performance you should consider this along with choice of lenses and use of a glass negative carrier. I have an Omega 4 x 5 and 5 x 7 enlarger that I found performs great when set up correctly, have good anchorage to the wall to eliminate vibration, use good quality lenses and glass neg carriers. Any of the brands you described will do the job for you, however consider an enlarger as a system that has setup requirements and needs all of the additional components to work adequately.

Best

Tom

[Bazz8]

I am going to sound very old here, but I guess I am. I used many different Omega models over the years and had no problems with them. They do tend to be shaky, but I simply attached them to the wall behind the enlarger with two pieces of threaded rod and angle irons. I do that with all of my enlargers having swiped the idea from Zone VI. I taught darkroom photography at a local college for 8 years and we had all Omega D5 enlargers. They were were all beat, not because they were bad, but because they were not maintained properly. At one point I decided to start shooting 8 x 10 and so an 8 x 10 enlarger was next on my shopping list. I bought the Zone VI since you can get both 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 heads. The VC black and white cold light head was quite nice. Their neg carriers only are landscape, so if you are doing a vertical print you have to look at the image sideways. I bought extra carriers and cut my own vertical openings, thus solving the problem. However, that is an added expense. I would not hesitate to recommend the enlarger, however, they are probably hard to find and parts not as easy to obtain as Omegas, etc. If you do select a Zone VI,make sure you get the Type 2, which has two columns in the head, it is more stable. For the past several years I have been using a Beseler 45V XL. It cost me $5 as a local vocational school closed out their program. I mounted it next to my Omega D5 and my Zone VI. When the time came to move to a new house I had to downsize and so I sold the Omegas and the Zone VI and kept the Besseler. It seems a bit more convenient to align .I generally use the color head as you can dial in contrast for B & W VC paper using the filters. I also have a condenser head which I use on occasion. Coupled with Nikkor lenses the results can be quite contrasty. I also have a complete set of Componon S lenses, so I can pick and choose appropriately for the project. It has been mentioned in other posts above, but I will second the assertion that the lens is the whole thing, everything else is just a convenience. The Bessler replaced my Zone VI and Omegas since it seemed more convenient in a number of ways. That having been said, I am confident that I could align almost any old enlarger and, with a good lens, make superior prints. It's all in the lens. Keep in mind that cold light heads are just diffuser heads of a newer variety. Some like condensers, some diffusers. I like both, depending on whatever I am trying to achieve. Sorry to ramble and I hope this helps. Rob Rielly

Tongue in Cheek comment Rob the units I had came from a pro lab in adelaide which sadly went out of business with the advent of digital , they had wall brackets with 45deg bracing I suppose I used one for 6 months or so got some good prints from the setup. It took quite some time to set up the enlarger for level and true ( used a lazer level) I had a wall mouting bracket but as I was building a ramp for a house over the water at the time I got a 40mm cd ply offcut and cut a 900 deep x 600 wide baseboard, that kept it steady! It was sold to a school in victoria several years ago.
My present project is shifting my darkroom 3.6 X 3.0 MTR in size down to a galley style darkroom 4.0 mtr x 1.9 mtr width it will have 2 enlargers in it the Durst 138s and a mini laborator the durst Durst d659 for 35mm and 6x6 + wishing sink and my processers will be a little cosy compared to what I have used for over 10 years.
such is life.

[artflic]

I think we agree. Different enlargers take different methods to set up. When I used my Omegas I had a special machinist's level that helped level the lens board stage. As I recall the easist of the lot to align was the Zone VI, you just used a target neg and turned an allen wrench until you were level. I went from operating three enlargers in a space about 9 x 14 to a new darkroom that is about 15 x 20. Had I known that I probably would have kept the other enlargers, but the Besseler does what I need it to do. As I recall, each enlarger was set for different formats. The Omega was used for 35mm and medium format as was the Beseler and I generally used the Zone VI for 4 x 5 and 8 x 10. On other occasions the Beseler did some 4 x 5 work and, of course, will now do everything as I have all the mixing boxes from 35mm to 4 x 5. Regards, Rob